unexculpable | ➤ 5th Transmutation

A. » Action/Locked to notalwystrthful「1652 Albright Lane ☼ Early Morning」

[Ed was actually on his way out, he never stayed at this house for too long. The only reason he came back at all was because he would be droned if he didn't sleep in here once every three days.

He took the stairs two at a time, pulling his hair back into a ponytail along the way. He didn't know if Lust was here and he didn't want to find out, he almost made it to the door, but something caught his eye. Leaning up against the wall was a fairly large box with his name on it, written in crisp, bold letters.

He couldn't think of anyone who would send him something and he knew that people often recieved things from home in the mail. Was that what it was? Was this something from home? It could be, but... maybe it was from Olivier? Some project she wanted him to work on? Or Diana? It could be materials for that... slime stuff they were working on for the trolls. There was only one way to find out.

Ed didn't take his time opening it, but maybe he should have. His eyes widened and he stood up on shaky feet, stumbling backwards until he slammed into the wall behind him.]

No. No, no, no, no. I don't want this damn it!

["Water, 35 liters. Carbon, 20 kilograms. Ammonia, 4 liters. Lime, 1.5 kilograms. Phosphorous, 800 grams. Salt, 250 grams. Saltpeter, 100 grams. Sulfur, 80 grams. Fluorine, 7.5, iron, 5, silicon, 3 grams, and trace amounts of 15 other elements."

He could see it all happening in his head. The voice, one he knew to be his own, was so clear. He could see himself and his brother standing next to the pile of ingredients. Everything they needed to create the body of an adult human being.

The brothers knelt down outside of the circle and with a nod of determination, they down and placed their hands on the carefully drawn lines of chalk.

Ed swallowed hard, unmoving, barely breathing as the circle lights up. A bright blue light engulfs their father's study. The light illuminates the boy's faces - grinning, hopeful expectant, excited. For a minute everything seems like it's going like it should. That changes fast.

Things that look like long, thin pitch black arms rise up from the circle, writhing and twisting in the air and in the very center of the circle an eye cracked open.

His stomach clenched and he gasped for breath, trying to hold back the scream that was trying to force it's way out. For a minute, he was able to hold it back, but that didn't last long. It was far too late to take this all back. Far too late to close the box and pretend this never happened. He stumbles forward and falls to his knees, his heart pounding in his chest. He could already feel it.

The light from the circle changes to a deep, piercing red. The hands that erupted from the ground surround the two small boys -- grabbing at them, pulling at them, tearing at them. Al screamed, terrified, tears streaming down his face, his hand stretched out reaching for his brother as he was torn to apart -- pleading, begging and disappearing piece by piece.

The scream clawed it's way out of his throat -- shrill and pained and terrified -- as his leg was ripped apart. Blood trickled onto the floor, quickly pooling under him. Ed's arms buckled and and fell flat on his stomach, coughing and choking, his throat already raw from his agonized screams.

He was alone again. No one was here to help him. He was alone and terrified and there was so much blood god there was so much blood.]

B. » Action「Around Town ☼ Evening」

[Those who know Ed, or at the very least have seen him around frequently, might notice something a bit... off about him. For one, he looks incredibly exhausted -- his face is pale and honestly he seems like he might be sick, but that isn't quite the case.

Upon closer inspection those with an observant eye will notice three other things, the first of which, and the most obvious, are the pair of white gloves he's wearing. It's been colder than this and so far Ed's never bothered to wear gloves. They're not even thick ones, so it would be safe to assume he's not wearing them to keep his hands warm. His right arm looks... different somehow. It's impossible to see why, the long sleeved shirt is doing a good job of covering everything up. And... is something wrong with his left leg? Is he limping?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

unexculpable

You know that sounds insane, right?

From:

princeofjunes

That's half the reason I like telling the story. To people back home, it's just a crazy story.

Here? It's just crazy enough to be true.

From:

unexculpable

Heh. Fair enough.

From:

princeofjunes

So... you gonna tell me what messed you up in the first place?

From:

unexculpable

[... Ed hesitates before peeling off the glove on his right hand. He kind of owes him at least this much after decking him the other day. He stretches his fingers. His very non-human fingers.]

Got something from home.

From:

princeofjunes

[Yosuke is momentarily stunned. A metal hand - hell, not just that, probably an entirely metal arm from the looks of it - primitive yet way more advanced than anything he's seen at the same time. It's incredible!]

[... but then he realizes two things. One, that means Ed only has one real arm. Two, judging by his limp, that's not the only metal appendage the guy has. Amazement turns to sympathy, and the teen finds himself wondering what the hell could have even led to this. Not to mention the town's cruelty in giving it back]

[As for his actual response, it's as eloquent as ever]

Holy shit...

From:

unexculpable

[He takes the glove off of his left hand. Might as well at this point. Wasn't like he had anything to hide.]

It's automail. Useful, but... hurts like hell when you first get it.

From:

princeofjunes

[Yeah, Ed doesn't seem like the kind of guy to just wake up and want a crazy robot arm out of the blue, so...]

Shit... I mean, I bet it beats not having one, but... damn.

From:

unexculpable

Beats it by a long shot. Nothing quite as humbling as living without the use of a limb or two.

From:

princeofjunes

How'd you do it? I can't even imagine something like that.

[Yes, that is new-found respect for you in his voice, Edward]

From:

unexculpable

[Maybe, just maybe, if Yosuke looks close enough he may just notice the determination in his eyes. Probably something he never noticed before -- maybe just wrote it off as cocky over-confidence -- but it's not. These are the eyes of someone who's seen far too much, been through hell and back. They're the eyes of a person who will never let that stop them.]

I did what I had to do. Mom died years before this, so it was just me and Al.I made a promise and I wasn't about to let any of it stop me. Had to keep moving forward, but it's hard to do that without a good pair of legs under you, you know?

From:

princeofjunes

[Yosuke recognizes that look for one reason and one reason alone - he's seen it before, in Souji's eyes as they made their way towards their final confrontation. Towards Izanagi. And his respect grows just a little more]

So limbs like that are common where you come from? Just... head to the limb store and get fresh ones?

From:

unexculpable

[He laughs, rubbing the back of his neck]

Not exactly, no. It's common enough that people know what it is, but it's not something many go through with. For one, it's expensive and maintenance is a pain in the ass, but it's the surgery that turns people away. This stuff connects directly to your nerves so... it's not a pleasant process. On top of that, recovery normally takes about two years. It's... it's pretty rough.

From:

princeofjunes

[He takes a few moments to contemplate that - and something occurs to him]

Wait, would you ever recover? What if you grow in those two years? Wouldn't they have to make the limb bigger to keep everything... proportional?

From:

unexculpable

[he nods]

Yeah. I got it when I was eleven, so I'd have to get new ones every so often. [He's not going to mention how little that actually happened.] But you don't have to go through surgery again for that. The surgery is just to install the ports that the automail connects to, so it just gets removed and gets replaced when you need a new one. It hurts when the nerves connect again, but it's not debilitating or anything.

From:

princeofjunes

[He nods, contemplating this again. It makes sense, but there's still one bit of the equation that's a mystery]

Well, I can see why you'd want to do it. But how'd you manage it? I didn't think you came from a super rich family.

From:

unexculpable

I don't. We lived out in the country. Resembool's just this tiny little farming town. No one there has a lot of money, but Winry and Pinako are automail engineers and our families have known each other for years. They didn't mind fixing me up with some. Payed them back in full after I became a state alchemist.

From:

princeofjunes

[There is a moment. A lightbulb moment, where all of the pieces fall into place in Yosuke's mind. And he grins! Oh, how he grins - such an evil grin]

So when they said Winry's your mechanic, it wasn't just sexual innuendo!